F1 season review DVDs just keep getting longer. The 2009 edition – weakly titled “Not in a hurry” – clocks in at more than four-and-a-half hours including extras.

The tightly-regulated broadcasting of Formula 1 means this is the only way you can buy video footage of Jenson Button’s championship victory and all the other highlights from the 2009 F1 season.

Happily they’ve done a decent, if unspectacular, job of the discs.

The first thing many fans will notice about the reviews is a new option allowing the narration to be turned off entirely. This means you can re-watch the highlights with just the engine noise and team radio.

This is an interesting addition but as I enjoyed Ben Edwards’ narration I didn’t use it much. Since the 2008 F1 DVD the producers stopped having Edwards deliver his commentary as if it were live. They also dropped the annoying practice of mixing cheesy music into the race footage, both of which are to the benefit of the production.

The picture quality is as good as you’re going to get from a DVD but here I come to my first grumble – where is the HD version? It’s high time we were able to buy these reviews on Blu-Ray or as an HD download.

FOA have total access to footage from F1 races so the breadth of material here is second to none. Indeed you have to say it’s a pity more of it doesn’t make it into the original live broadcasts.

Major incidents – like the Robert Kubica-Jarno Trulli crash at Shanghai, or the first-lap mayhem at Spa and Interlagos – are covered from multiple angles around the track and onboard the cars.

Continuing the practice from recent reviews there’s a separate onboard footage feature where F1 driver narrate different highlights from the season shot from their cars.

There’s a wealth of pit-to-driver radio as well including some entertaining and revealing moments. Such as an impatient Button hurrying his team mate along at Catalunya (“Come one Rubens, you can go quicker than this”), Massa being urged to save fuel in the same race, and an angry Lewis Hamilton bemoaning the state of his McLaren at Istanbul (“I’m heavier than a fricking boat!”). And best of all, Rob Smedley’s celebrated “Felipe baby” remark at Malaysia is there to enjoy again.

Of course the same two are also the subject of the most chilling moment in the review – Massa’s horrifying crash at the Hungaroring. The entire incident is analysed in detail with the on-board traces showing how Massa kept accelerating – while also braking – after he was hit by the spring dropped by Barrichello’s car.

Generally the review does a good job of analysing the major events of the year. The Hamilton/Trulli controversy at Melbourne benefits from a reconstruction of the moment Hamilton let Trulli past complete with audio from both teams, as well as substantial footage from Hamilton’s press conference at Malaysia.

But whereas past season reviews would cover everything going on in the sport – including the political developments around the racing – they seem to be deliberately overlooked by newer reviews. The entire FOTA/FIA row and the breakaway threat is ignored, as is Jean Todt’s election as FIA president.

The bonus extras vary in quality, particularly the hastily-assembled “sorry to lose you” features on Toyota and BMW, which are just short video montages set to music. A better example is the ‘Forza Felipe’ feature which covers his recovery from injury and includes a lengthy interview.

There’s plenty of new material here to keep fans happy and the lengthy review does a thorough job of reviewing an often exciting season. If you’ve got the review, please post your thoughts on it in the comments.

Keith, do you know of a version that will work in the United States? I’ve been searching all over the internet, but I can only find “Region 2″ DVDs. Would you happen to know when they usually release the Region 1 version?

Joshy, if you are in the US, I found a Phillips on either Amazon or Best Buy- can’t remember. It was a bit more pricy but I’ve saved a bundle on foreign films and Brit tv dvd’s because they’re usually cheaper and someone also told me that some of the dvd’s issued in Europe get cut to crap when they’re licensed for US release. I have no idea how true that is.

2007 and 2008 were better productions and more entertaining imo, probably because this year was soooo boring in comparison. Yet with that being said, quality is top notch and it’s worth viewing nonetheless.

the quality of the racing shown can’t be a judgement of the DVD as the DVD can';t make a dull season interesting!
i found the DVD to be very good, most things as explained above are there in detail, incl. the Trulli/Sutil press conferance! i am glad the politics of the sport rnt included as it’s not interesting, as a fan all i worry about is how good the races are, as with rules changes etc it all basically stays the same anyway. tho Jean Todt becoming the presidant should perhaps have been shown, but it’s a minor issue.
one thing that irritated me tho was the censorship…..

I’m glad they havn’t wasted time with covering the breakaway threat and the FIA president election, would just be lots of people in suits walking into meetings and courtrooms anyway… 4 Hours of racing and features is what we want.

Funny that this DVD isn’t region free though, stuff like this usually is. Exempt from classification and region free, like the old Jeremy Clarkson videos or something.

I agree that they didn’t get bogged down into the political stuff. It would be difficult for them to cover it impartially anyway I think. However pretending that it never happened is a bit odd!

Of course FOM stuff is restricted by region. Video games companies have been region-coding their software for decades, it means they have lots of control about what is sold in which territories. You wouldn’t expect Bernie to relinquish that would you?

Every year I decide to wait until after Christmas to buy the review so it’s cheaper, but round about this time each year I decide I can’t go any longer without F1 and buy it anyway.

I must admit my preferences are completely different to Keith’s- I quite like the music, for example. My two favourite season reviews were from 2001 and 02, but they have really bad ratings on this site….

There’s no way to buy it here in Russia, so I got it off torrents – and loved it. Great job on team radio, all the best stuff is there, making for that special atmosphere. And yeah, I’d easily pay for an official HD download of this.

Actually, this season I’ve watched more of BBC recordings than of actual live tv, however great the Russian commentary was. And if I could buy an online HD subscription for 2010 races, I’d do that too.

I was able to purchase a copy of the season in review from my local bestbuy.. I went online and searched all stores in my area and got lucky and found a couple stores that had a few copies. I would suggest that anyone who I looking for this give it a try.. I was also able to find copies on amazon.ca.. I am located in Canada btw